Written Answers Monday 11 August 2008

Scottish Executive

Ambulance Service

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing on 4 June 2008 ( Official Report c. 9260), whether the Cabinet Secretary has received and evaluated a copy of the Scottish Ambulance Service’s action plan on how to achieve elimination of single staffing and, if so, whether this plan will be made available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre along with the Executive’s response.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Ambulance Service has submitted to the Scottish Government their proposed action plan to eliminate the rostered single manning of traditional accident and emergency ambulances. This is now being considered in detail by Scottish Government officials and decisions on the way forward will be reached in due course.

  I will, as conveyed in my statement to Parliament on 4 June, return to the Chamber after the summer recess to set out my response on this issue as well as on the other areas of work identified on that day.

Energy Efficiency

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to encourage homeowners to improve home installation to help energy conservation.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Government supports a range of measures to encourage homeowners to improve home installation to help energy conservation:

  We recently launched the Energy Saving Scotland advice network, which is a one stop shop for advice on a range of sustainable energy issues including energy efficiency, renewables and personal transport. Advisers engage with customers on a long term basis and provide advice and support with home installation.

  We will launch a new "home-help" service in the Autumn, which will offer more intensive and tailored face to face support to ensure households get even better advice and find home installation solutions that are right for them.

  We are establishing a Scottish steering group in partnership with the energy supply companies to help maximise funding and activity to Scotland through the carbon emissions reduction target. This could be worth at least £80 million each year for home energy efficiency improvements and savings of £62 million each year in household fuel bills.

  We will be introducing the Home Report in December 2008 to raise awareness of energy efficiency at the point of house sale. All house purchasers will receive a comprehensive energy report on the energy efficiency of a property before they bid as part of the Home Report. This energy report will be attached to an up to date energy performance certificate and will provide information on energy usage and costs, carbon dioxide emissions, recommendations for improvements and sources of advice and support.

  We are committing £45 million each year over the next three years to continue to help tackle fuel poverty. We have already made thousands of Scottish homes warmer and more affordable to heat by installing energy efficiency measures through our fuel poverty programmes, the Warm Deal and central heating programme.

  In addition, the Scottish Government will be launching a consultation on further measures to improve the energy performance of existing homes later in the year.

Energy Efficiency

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has plans to encourage homeowners to install solar panels.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Government is committed to improving energy efficiency and increasing microgeneration in Scotland’s homes. We have tripled funding for community and microgeneration allocating up to £13.5 million each year over the next three years.

  Our domestic grants programme already supports solar thermal and, in June, we widened the programme to include solar photovoltaics.

  To help householders install solar panels and other microgeneration and energy saving equipment, we will be launching a new home help service in the Autumn. This service will offer one to one support to help people make the right decisions when considering installing any microgeneration technology, and assist them from the initial planning stages through to post installation support.

Equalities

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that, following the European Court of Justice’s judgment in the Coleman case, the laws that protect disabled people against discrimination are applied also to their carers and whether it will support the extension of such rights to all carers.

Shona Robison: As the member will be aware, matters relating to equality legislation are reserved to the UK Government. I welcome the European Court of Justice’s ruling in the Coleman case and hope that this will lead to increased awareness among employers of the need to ensure that carers receive the fair treatment they deserve.

  Equalities legislation is reserved and the UK Government is considering the implications of the Coleman ruling. We are working closely with the UK Government on those aspects of equalities legislation which have devolved implications.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of clostridium difficile have been reported by NHS boards in the last year, broken down by month.

Nicola Sturgeon: Mandatory surveillance on the total number of cases of Clostridium difficile reported by NHS board was introduced in September 2006. This information is collected by Health Protection Scotland (HPS) and is published in quarterly reports on their website.

  Information for NHS boards since September 2006 is in the following table;

  

 
 October 2006 -December 2006
 January 2007 - March 2007
 April 2007 – June 2007
 July 2007-September 2007
 October 2007 – December 2007
 Jan 2008- March 2008


 Total number of cases in Scotland
 1,213
 1,775
 1,588
 1,459
 1,608
 1,861



   The reports of the independent review on the Clostridium difficile outbreaks at Vale of Leven Hospital and the Health Protection Scotland Six Month Look Back Exercise on Clostridium difficile by NHS boards were published on 7 August. Action plans based on the findings of these reports include a range of actions around surveillance, including:

  a standard template to be provided to NHS boards for local surveillance of healthcare associated infection (HAI); surveillance will include control limits and trajectories for reduction of rates/incidence of HAI in local surveillance arrangements.

  Web based test reporting for Clostridium difficile will be in place across Scotland by the end of October 2008

  HAI incidents and issues recorded on NHS boards risk management reporting systems will be reported to two monthly public board meetings.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of Clostridium difficile have been reported by NHS Ayrshire and Arran in the last year, broken down by hospital.

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of Clostridium difficile have been reported by NHS Ayrshire and Arran in each year since 2000.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is set out in the table below, broken down by the hospital in which the patient was being cared for at the time of identification. Data is available from April to March of each year.

  


 Hospital
 2007-08
 2008-09


 Ayrshire Central Hospital
 60
 13


 Ailsa Hospital
 7
 2


 Arran War Memorial Hospital
 7
 4


 Ayr
 149
 49


 Biggart
 51
 19


 Crosshouse
 298
 93


 Davidson
 3
 2


 East Ayrshire Community Hospital
 7
 5


 Kirklandside
 7
 1


 Lady Margaret
 
 1


 Totals
 589
 189




Source: NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

  These are not necessarily the hospitals in which the Clostridium difficile associated disease was acquired. Also patients may be included more than once if they have a relapse and there has been more than 28 days between symptomatic episodes.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many recorded cases of Clostridium difficile there have been in NHS Tayside in each month since January 2008, broken down by (a) PCR ribotype and (b) recording hospital.

Nicola Sturgeon: Health Protection Scotland (HPS) collects information, by NHS board, on cases of c-diff and on PCR ribotyping. C-diff is identified in laboratories by testing for the presence of a toxin, and does not routinely require ribotyping. Ribotyping is currently only carried out in c-diff cases which meet certain national protocol criteria. Information on PCR ribotypes is therefore collected at a national level and is not broken down by NHS board.

  The information requested on c.diff cases is published quarterly by HPS at:

  http://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/haiic/newsdetail.aspx?id=160. Latest information on the number of cases of c-diff reported in NHS Tayside, since January 2008 year is provided in the following table. Information is not broken down by hospital.

  


 
 Jan 2008 – March 2008


 Total number of cases in Scotland
 1,861


 NHS Tayside
 139




  Source: Health Protection Scotland.

  The reports of the independent review on the Clostridium difficile Outbreaks at Vale of Leven Hospital and the Health Protection Scotland Six Month Look Back Exercise on clostridium difficile by NHS boards were published on 7 August. Action plans based on the findings of these reports include a range of actions around surveillance, including:

  a standard template will be provided to NHS boards for local surveillance of Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI); surveillance will include control limits and trajectories for reduction of rates/incidence of HAI.

  Web based test reporting for Clostridium difficile will be in place across Scotland by the end of October 2008

  HAI incidents and issues recorded on NHS boards risk management reporting systems will be reported to two monthly public board meetings.

Royal Mail

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings have taken place between ministers or their officials and representatives of the Royal Mail Group or its subsidiaries since May 2007 and what matters were discussed at these meetings.

Jim Mather: A number of meetings have taken place between Ministers and officials with representatives of Royal Mail Group. Matters discussed during these meetings were primarily the Network Change Programme and alternative methods of delivering postal services (outreach services), with the aim of ensuring that sustainable business models underpin the Post Office branches that remain after the Network Change programme is completed.

Royal Mail

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what correspondence has been sent and received between its ministers or their officials and representatives of the Royal Mail Group or its subsidiaries since May 2007 and what issues were dealt with by that correspondence.

Jim Mather: Correspondence sent and received has referred to proposals for the Network Change programme; meeting arrangements; an invitation to open a new super-depot for Parcelforce Worldwide in Glasgow; and the Scottish Government’s response to the Independent Review of the UK Postal Service: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/06/postalreviewresponse .